Movie : Neeku Naaku Dash Dash
Rating: 2.5/5
Cast : Prince, Nandita, Teertha and others
Directed by : Teja
Produced by : Anand Prasad
Banner : Bhavya Creations
Music : Yashwanth Nag
Release Date : 2012-04-13
Director Teja was one of the biggest brand names in Tollywood a decade ago. But a series of flop products damaged his reputation as the director and he was forced to take a break from filmmaking after disastrous Keka. He is back again with Neeku Naaku Dash Dash, which is also the same old Teja's tree in new forest! After taking a very big break Teja believed that his old formula should work again and made an attempt. Let's see how it is... Rating: 2.5/5
Cast : Prince, Nandita, Teertha and others
Directed by : Teja
Produced by : Anand Prasad
Banner : Bhavya Creations
Music : Yashwanth Nag
Release Date : 2012-04-13
What is it about?
Shiva (Prince) and Gayathri (Nandita) are workers at a yard that makes cheap liquor. They fall in love with each other. Falling in love is completely prohibited in that business and that puts the couple in trouble. Added to that Shiva steals crores of money from the liquor mafia goons for a reason. So the chase is on and like in every Teja's film the couple runs in to the forest and what happens next is left to your imagination.
Performances:
Prince is an okay looking guy. He did an Okay job as an actor. Nandita is good as rebellious Gayatri. She dominated the hero in every frame. She has cute looks. Teertha is fine as the baddie. Director failed to etch her character in a proper way. Paruchuri Venkateswara Rao is good. Suman Setty is usual. Venu is Okay. The bald headed villain didn't look powerful enough.
On the Technical Front:
Yashwant Nag's music is passable. "Maa orri dash gadu" song is catchy and entertaining. Background score was done by Anup Rubens and he did a pretty decent job. Rasool's cinematography is an asset. Teja himself being a cinematographer, his films always have good visuals. Editing is alright. Dialogues are not up to the mark.
As a director Teja did an average job. There were few instances where he showed few sparks from his brilliant past, but on a whole he is yet to get into form. Teja should have come up with a better story and screenplay after taking a big gap. Instead he tried to play it safe. He doesn't have that extraordinary story narrating skills anymore. Those intelligent scenes which used to arrest the audiences are completely missing.
Analysis:
Neeku Naaku Dash Dash is a casual film with routine script. It doesn't have the elements to make the audiences involved in the film. There are many boring moments in the film. First half is pretty mediocre. Second half is slightly better with story moving to lush green locales.
There are many ups and downs throughout the film. First half an hour and last half an hour are the biggest drawbacks. It is better in the remaining part but not good enough to impress the audience. The film is likely to leave a below average to average impression.
Teja's trademark element that made his films successful has been missing in this one. Lack of powerful villain made the climax part very weak. There are shades of Shopping Mall movie in the backdrop. Enough home work is not done and hence NNDD ended up as a half baked product.
Although made at a low budget, the film will have to struggle hard to get back the investments amidst the tough competition.
Verdict: Teja is still in 'Jayam' mode!